Appendix 2 - Food Security Fund Report 22-23
Perth and Kinross Council · 29 November 2023
Back to Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee — 29 November 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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RM and KM 27/01/2023 1 Food Security Fund Report- A total of 37 community projects across Perth and Kinross have been supported by the Food Security Fund. 7 of these projects applied to the Cost-of-Living Fund but due to limited funds were supported by the Food Security Fund. A total of £235,866.67 has been distributed to communities across P&K including £40,000 for Perth and Kinross Foodbank. The fund has supported- • REHIS Food Hygiene certificates- 13 individuals including volunteers and staff have completed this. This is an element of the Community Cookit course and needs to be completed to run a cooking group. There are 5 awaiting to complete this. • Community members and groups to improve their cooking skills through delivery of Community Cookit- £2566.25 supported the delivery of Community Cookit training and individuals to complete REHIS Food Hygiene Training. In total £2,780.00 has supported 3 different groups across P&K to run these sessions: 1. Burrelton Community Hub received £1000 to purchase equipment for running cooking sessions for individuals and families. The aim of these sessions was for participants to learn how to cook simple and nutritional meals while working within a tight budget and helping households make better choices and reduce their food waste. 2. Perth Academy received £1460 towards cooking activities for their Family Engagement Food and Warm Room Project. This project is being run by the HE department and is teaching vulnerable families how to cook a 2- course family meal for £10 per family, provided with a £10 utensil pack. 3. The Drug and Alcohol Recovery Team received £320 towards running a cooking group with those recovering from Drug and Alcohol addiction. • Sport or activity sessions which include a healthy snack or meal to support families during holiday periods- In total £13,138.03 has supported 7 different groups across P&K to run these sessions: 1. Summer Family Fun Project- £380 to support summer activities in East Perthshire for 4 weeks in July. Appendix 2
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RM and KM 27/01/2023 2 2. Tulloch Primary School Summer Club- £501 to provide lunch and take- home fruit and vegetable bags. 3. Blairgowrie and Rattray Football Club- £960 for Gofitba project (Food poverty and healthy lifestyle programme). 4. Kettins Community Hub- £600 for summer family fun days project. 5. Blue Door Foodbank- £7,000 to provide packed lunch parcels for children referred by the school with the inclusion of a voucher to attend free local activities run in the town. 6. Alyth Food for Thought- £122.03 for DIY lunch packs and summer activities project. 7. Broke not Broken- £3575 for Tuesday Trips project. • Community groups to obtain equipment such as shelving, fridges, freezers and containers to ensure the food community members are receiving is properly stored. In total £47,695.87 has supported this, including £30,000 for the refurbishment of Giraffes Community kitchen. Projects supported include: 1. Letham4all Community Fridge- £960 for freezer at Muirton Foodshare. 2. Letham4all, Giraffe and People with a Mission Ministries (PWAMM) Partnership- £8815.87 to provide equipment necessary to bring PWAMMS up to legal and consistent standards to produce and provide meals. 3. Crieff Connexions Community Store- £5,100.00 for minor refurbishment and shelving, equipment for store, signs and marketing for new store. 4. Madoch Centre- £2820 to purchase and power a fridge and freezer for the pantry. • Voucher and veg box schemes- In total, £44,885 has been given to 3 different community groups to support voucher and veg box schemes: 1. Tulloch Primary School Summer Club- provided £10 vouchers for local shop (£300 in total). 2. Broke not Broken- Winter Warmer Project (£5,200 for 100x £20 vouchers and 100x £6 veg box scheme), Easter Hampers (£2,000 for vouchers and £600 for veg boxes to support 100 households), Christmas Hampers (£5345 for vouchers and Christmas butcher vouchers for Christmas dinner) and Voucher Scheme (£31,080 for supermarket vouchers).
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RM and KM 27/01/2023 3 3. Perth Academy- Family Engagement Food and Warm Room Project (£360 for vouchers). Feedback- • Broke not Broken (BNB): From March this year to November there has been a 245% increase in the total amount of people being supported. In the last week of November, BNB supported 192 individuals with food. Each food parcel contains non-perishable food, but also fresh fruit, fresh veg, fresh dairy including butter cheese milk and yogurts. Toiletries and cleaning products as well as sanitary products are also included. If requested by referral agent, we also add in vouchers or give vouchers instead of a food parcel if preferred. This is a max of £40. BNB have not opened a warm space; the food bank space is tiny, and we don’t have access to any other spaces locally. BNB run a parent and tots’ group at a local hall and have applied for funding to open that an extra day, as it is warm and lunch for adults and toddlers is included there as well as a Baby bank of food, nappies and formula. BNB also run a women’s group which meets regularly around different subjects including breast cancer awareness, human rights, storytelling, and for Christmas a wreath making workshop. Food is included at all of these, and in some instances additional support e.g., voucher for buying a new bra at the breast cancer awareness event. “Using vouchers are key to managing demand. They are also key to giving people as much dignity as possible. I won’t undersell the logistics involved though. We choose to offer clients vouchers for the shop they tend to use the most. This means that currently we buy in vouchers for Asda, Morrisons, Sainsburys and Aldi. They must be bought in advance of course, so we need to gauge use based on the month before. We keep records of who gets what including pin numbers in case they don’t work, which can happen. And we tend to post out or hand deliver. However, if they don’t receive the vouchers, we can’t reissue, so it can be tricky relying on the post sometimes.
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RM and KM 27/01/2023 4 Our preference is ALDI orange vouchers, as they get good value for money, and can’t buy alcohol tobacco or lottery tickets, and I know funder like these parameters. If this is a route the council is looking to go down, I would recommend doing some work with local supermarkets, as we have had (rare) instances of people being questioned about why they have vouchers, and where did they get them, which can be very difficult for people. But I would say on balance if people were offered the choice, 95% would choose vouchers over a food parcel.” • Perth Academy- The families were very appreciative of the food, vouchers, utensil packs and 2 course meals, especially so close to Christmas as all families had issues with finances and had been targeted for this reason. Families have reported cooking together as a family since the cooking group. “Yes, they were great from start to finish all the support staff and teachers great it was a great experience” “I really appreciated the time and help offered. My kid finds classes difficult but managed which has boosted confidence. It was nice and relaxed, and the staff were friendly” COMMUNITY COOKIT What is it? The Community Cookit Project, part of the PKC Local Improvement Plan (LOIP), is based on a train the trainer model and has taught a variety of services within Perth and Kinross the essential cooking skills and basic nutritional knowledge to run a successful cooking group. In light of the cost-of-living crisis it is ever more important to ensure that families and individuals have the appropriate skills and knowledge to cook cheap, healthy meals. At present there is an increasing overweight population in Scotland, and in Tayside, more than 2/3rds of the population are overweight or obese (NHS Tayside Director of Public Health Annual Report 2022). Highlighting the need for communities to have the correct skills and knowledge to be able to cook is key. The Community Cookit project was developed in 2015 for the homeless, to teach cooking skills for independent living. It is a community health initiative delivered in partnership with NHS Tayside and Perth & Kinross Council. To date, it has expanded, teaching a wide variety of staff from local authority teams including
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RM and KM 27/01/2023 5 education & housing along with staff from several third sector organisations. Who now deliver projects locally in ways which benefit their client groups. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, Community Cookit has further developed to suit the needs of the communities, by changing the way training is delivered. It also now focuses on using foodbanks ingredients and low-cost energy meals which can still be healthy. There are three main training elements to complete to become a Community Cookit Coach. These are - 1. Two half day sessions through Microsoft Teams online and one full day practical session face-to-face. 2. REHIS Food & Health – nutrition through the lifespan which is a recognised accredited qualification. Full day training with small test at the end. 3. REHIS Elementary Food Hygiene – there is a cost for this, however over the last financial year the PKC Food Security Fund has supported participants with this. The Level 2 Food Hygiene Training is also available through PKC Adult Learning Hub. 4. There is also a one-hour Microsoft Teams follow up session, six months later. This gives the opportunity for the Cookit coaches to feedback on groups they have delivered, for them to get support with a particular issue and to network with other Cookit coaches. This year nineteen individuals have been trained from various services such as Turning Point Scotland, OWLS (One-Stop Women’s Learning Service), Salvation Army, Move Ahead, Burrelton Community Group, Blue Door Foodbank, Wellbeing Support for Older People Team, SCYD (Strathmore Centre for Youth Development), Care in the Community and Drugs & Alcohol Recovery Team. Out of the nineteen individuals trained in Community Cookit this year, four are volunteers. Positive outcomes- There have been many positive outcomes from the Community Cookit Programme. These include strong partnership working and building positive working relationships with participants. Participants have also been able to build these relationships and network with each other. This allows us to promote and signpost other training and/or opportunities available for example various funding streams to support their projects. Last year we managed to support various projects to run cooking activities, lunch clubs etc from applications to the Food Security Fund, The Malnutrition in Older People Fund, The Maternal and Infant Nutrition Fund and The Cost-of-Living Community Fund.
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RM and KM 27/01/2023 6 Projects supported include- 1. Stanley Lunch Club - This is a lunch club for older adults which focuses on the prevention of undernutrition amongst this age group. The group secured funding for providing boost boxes to those that needed nutritional support as well as providing soup, sandwiches and cakes for those who attend. The Boost Box contains fourteen nutritious snacks to help calorie and protein intake for those most at risk of malnutrition. These funding streams have helped to lengthen the project to continue running throughout 2023 and to subsidise the cost to participants who attend the club. Other organisations who have been supported to run similar projects across Perth and Kinross, include Sanda Court Sheltered Accommodation, Elder Voice, and the Madoch Centre. 2. Drug & Alcohol Recovery Team – Ran an eight-week cookery course for those recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. 3. Cooking in rural Communities (Kirkmichael) – This project was run by the Good Food Co-ordinator and the Community Learning and Development Team of PKC. It was a four-week cooking programme that’s aim was to mitigate the effects of the cost-of-living crisis, bring people within a small rural community together, teach basic cooking skills and the importance of good nutrition. The ingredients for the cooking group were also purchased through the local shop. The group ran for four weeks, and participants all tried new foods and learnt new recipes. The
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RM and KM 27/01/2023 7 group also noted the importance of the social aspect of attending the group. They all developed positive relationships with one another and felt that attending the group improved their mental health. One of the participants from the group is keen to complete the Community Cook it Training and carry on a cooking group within Kirkmichael. So far, this participant has completed the REHIS Food Hygiene certificate. Positive comments from participants- “I feel part of the community.” “Cooking as part of a group is always fun.” “Meeting new people and socialising has been great. Our house is quite lonely and isolated, so it has been nice to get out and meet people.” “I have learnt new cooking techniques and skills.” 4. Turning Point Scotland - Carry out 1-1 home visits with their clients which can be long-term depending on client’s circumstances. Sometimes put together meals from store cupboard and foodbank ingredients incorporating healthier options. 5. Burrelton Community Hub – Ran a cooking group over the summer holidays teaching 28 young people essential skills to cook simple, healthy meals. They ran three different sessions with a mix of ages on different days, the first session ran with young people from the ages of 7-10 years, the second session 11-13 years and the third 14-17 years. The Burrelton Community Hub also run a Shephard’s’ Hut which acts as a reduced-price shop. The group receive food from Fareshare, Lidl and local growers. They also run a Community Café, baby and toddler group and a Sunday Dine group. Throughout these groups they also focus on prevention of malnutrition. Positive comment- “I just wanted to firstly say that you all done an amazing job today!! Absolutely amazing. We as a family have tried to find clubs and sessions like the ones you run and have never found one like this until we heard about you. The children were nervous going in and you both welcomed them in and took care of them. When it was time to pick up the kids they couldn’t wait to tell us and show us all the new skills they learned today. Which they then came home and made some for their siblings. It definitely gave them an uplift, I really hope we get another opportunity to come to another session with yourselves again. The kids met some lovely kids and all had a wonderful time. They asked if you are doing anymore day sessions if they could possibly join.”
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RM and KM 27/01/2023 8 6. OWLS (One-Stop Women’s Learning Service) - run a cooking group once a week for six weeks (ongoing) incorporating everything from the Community Cookit training and including using foodbank ingredients. Positive comment- “I enjoyed that and will definitely make that recipe again”. 7. Community Learning Disability Team – run block cooking groups once a week and 1:1 cooking. Positive comments – “I’m glad I came. The people are nice and helpful. Get’s me out the house. I have more confidence from being as part of a group. I learned to cook different stuff – I thought I couldn’t do it”. “Enjoyed socialising, get’s me away from the Xbox”. “I like the cooking. I like doing the carrots, never done them in my life. Learned a lot – peeling”. These highlights show how the project can be easily adapted based on the community that is being worked with and individual needs. They also demonstrate the variety of services across Perth and Kinross that have been trained and deliver related projects. Other positive outcomes from the project: • Manageable number of participants trained to allow us to provide ongoing support. • Encouraging participants to attend P&K Stronger Communities for networking. • Participants encouraged partaking in further training if certain learning is identified such as NHS Eatwell Playwell Training (families with under-five’s), Weaning Training (introducing solid foods) and Get Nourished (prevention of malnutrition). What have we learnt / barriers to the project? • Community Cookit can be tailored to suit client/ groups needs. • Partnership working helps identify the need for other services and/ or trainings required e.g. Get Nourished, Eatwell Playwell etc. • Community Cookit helps support volunteers in receiving REHIS qualifications which may help towards entrance of college or employment. • Need to identify suitable venues for running training. • Further support for Cookit Coaches to help them set up cooking groups within their community. This may include providing funding or sourcing suitable venues.
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RM and KM 27/01/2023 9 Future support and areas for improvement- • Recipe translation has taken place to translate recipes into other languages including Polish, Romanian, Ukrainian, and Hungarian to help support cooking initiatives with participants of other nationalities. • A newly developed resource ‘How to Cut the Cost of Cooking’ to be piloted. This resource was developed from feedback from community groups. It was highlighted that there was not a lot of clear information about the cost of cooking. This resource discusses different cooking methods and the costs associated with these. It also gives advice on how to cook on a budget with guidance on meal planning, batch cooking and food shopping. There are games and activities within the resource that can be used with community groups to spark discussions and share information. • Identify suitable venues to run Community Cookit across Perth and Kinross to maximise the number of people trained. • Adapt or add on to the six-month follow-up session to allow opportunity for face-to-face evaluation to take place. What impact has the project made? The project has brought communities together from across Perth and Kinross and allowed people to support one another within social settings. It upskills individuals in nutritional knowledge, basic cooking skills, knowledge on how to cook on a budget/ batch-cooking, food waste and it allows networking and connections to other services. This project has supported a vast and varied number of services supporting elements with food & fuel poverty, mental and physical wellbeing (healthy weight), adult and family learning, employability (REHIS), digital participation (online training and some resources), and community empowerment.